Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal. PHOTO: EXPRESS/ZAFAR ASLAM
The $46 billion investment in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which passes through Kashmir, has made China the top foreign investor in Pakistan.
Speaking at the Pakistan-China Roundtable Conference on Tuesday, Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said China was at number 16 in foreign investments in Pakistan but by investing in the economic corridor, it now reached to the top.
"The new economic ties will connect China's western region to Gwadar seaport on the Arabian Sea," Iqbal added.
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The conference was attended by a delegation of 32 Chinese investors led by the leadership of China Multinational Group and International Creative Industry Alliance alongside a number of Pakistani investors.
"A container, which usually takes 50 days to reach Heimburg from Beijing with $3,000 will now arrive in only 15 days, saving $1,800 after completion of the CPEC," the planning minister said.
Pakistan would get 17,000MW power projects through the corridor in five years, he added.
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Iqbal hoped that through economic link with China, the government would be able to complete its aim to make Pakistan part of the top 25 strongest economies of the world under the 2025 Vision.
CPEC is a planned network of roads, railways and energy projects linking southwest Pakistan's deep water Gwadar Port with northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
This article was originally published in The Economic Times
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